Posts: 13

Topic: bullets vs lasers.

Hello mates,

I've been pondering this question ever since I first saw star wars. Why doesn't the star wars universe just use bullets instead of laser fire? Think about it. a lightsaber wouldn't be able to deflect a bullet, and a bullet is pretty much faster than laser fire, plus it'll kill someone faster than a blaster would. I got so crazy with this question, that I came to the 'made up' decision that the Star Wars universe does not hold the correct element to make gunpowder. The question is coming back to haunt me, so I would like to ponder this question.Why?

Re: bullets vs lasers.

There are bullets in the Star Wars universe. They are called "slugs" and guns are known as "slugthrowers". It is apparently widely considered in the SW universe that blasters are superior to bullets because they can be recharged, do more damage, get more shots per ammo pack, and are overall, considered a more effective a weapon than the slugthrowers.Slugthrowers are still common on Outer Rim worlds where the capacity to repair blasters is limited, and can be outfitted with different types of ammunition for different effects (explosive, pyro, acid, etc).

Re: bullets vs lasers.

Oh, I never knew that's what a slugthrower was! I always imagined they shot slugs, which I thought was probably not what they really did. But thanks! And I heard slugthrowers are usually pretty sloppy.

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Re: bullets vs lasers.

And then there are flechette guns, which I understand to be shotguns that shoot tiny razor blades. That's sort of like bullets.

Dude, that gun ROCKS on Jedi Academy and Jedi Outcast.....

I think i like lasers better...cleaner yes but also better tech. I've never heard of slugthrowers on SW but i'm not really surprised...very interresting though. It does seem like lasers were slower than real bullets by a long shot....idk .

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[b]{MW}-[color=red]"Death and Destruction to Our Enemies"[/color][/b] [i] "I love that crunchy sound they make when they die." &#8213;RC-1207 (Sev), killing Geonosian [/i]

Re: bullets vs lasers.

Well, yeah, you need to be able to see the lasers in the movies, so they make the pretty little bolts you see. In actuality, lasers are light: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER). Therefore, the laser 'bolts' would move at the speed of light. It is possible that the light is slowed when it passes through focusing crystals, I suppose (or is that the Tibanna gas's job? Anyone know?), but it would still be moving at relativistic speeds. There is no way ANY projectile could ever reach relativistic speeds; gunfire comes nowhere close. So therefore, the lasers really are faster. But how entertaining would it be to see a firefight with nothing being fired? You gotta have something to show.

Also, the mess is always what I attribute to laser superiority. When you use bullets, you get nasty blood and gore all over the place. Blaster technology, all it messes up is the corpse. As the dawn of the Old Republic was supposed to be the start of a more civilized age, it makes sense that they use more civilized weapons.

Now that blasters are so well established galaxy-wide, it doesn't make sense to use slugthrowers. Resupplying becomes a major issue at some point, and power packs are far more universally purchasable than metal slugs. And dealing with a single power pack rather than dozens of tiny shells? Laser technology is superior in just about every way when you think about that.